Sunday, February 8, 2015

Palm Springs

Decided to visit with our friends, the Wheatleys at their Palm Springs house. Set off down the I10 at 75MPH, stopping at
Quartzsite to visit the gem and stone fair.
After admiring the geodes, crystals and purdy stones, we pressed on to Palm Springs, arriving in time for dinner and several
refreshing beverages at the foot of the San JacintoMountains. On Olympic-class chinwag ensued until we were
all caught up and crashed for the night.

The next day, Mike drove us to the University Market for a
browse, then on to the Living Desert Zoological gardens for a tour of the
world’s deserts and their denizens and plants.

Fish and chips with some interesting Mexican beers and more
chinwags.

The next day, we motored up into the mountains to see the Joshua
Tree Forest National Park. Furnished by
weird volcanic upwellings of
monzogranite into what appear to be heaps of shattered, wind-sculpted boulders,
dumped by aliens. And of course, miles
of Joshua Trees, Ocotillo and Pallo Verde exotica. From the lookout, we could see snow on MountSan Jacinto
and the great rift of the San Andreas Fault.